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Lack of mental health services

Posted By cetushw83

"Lack of mental health services"

About: Broome Health Campus / Emergency Department

(as a parent/guardian),

My adult child presented to Broome Hospital suffering a mental breakdown. They were in high distress and had been self-harming with their infant who has health issues also.  My understanding is that my child was placed in a storeroom to wait to be seen. Nowhere to even change the baby. Was informed there was no service to help them at that time and a referral would be sent for consideration to Kimberley Community Health.

My child's past experience was an 8-month wait. Very disappointed with the way my child was treated when they were obviously needing immediate help. I’m concerned that without support and help with their mental health, their condition could become worse with dire results.  

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Responses

Response from Bec Smith, Regional Director, WACHS - Kimberley 2 years ago
Bec Smith
Regional Director,
WACHS - Kimberley

Submitted on 22/07/2021 at 4:27 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 4:44 PM

picture of Bec Smith

Dear cetushw83,

Thank you for taking the time to tell us about the difficulties your adult child faced when they were seeking mental health support at Broome Hospital. All of our patients have the right to receive good and timely healthcare and I sincerely apologise that this was not your child’s experience.

So that we can support your child and more fully understand what happened, I would encourage your child to contact Mr Manu John, who is the Operations Manager at Broome Hospital. Manu can be contacted via mobile on 0418 410 346 or via email at: manu.john@health.wa.gov.au. With your child’s permission, Manu can access their medical records and undertake a formal investigation of what happened so that we can prevent this from happening to anyone else in future. We would also like to ensure the referral to Community Mental Health or any other available service is progressed.

In relation to the provision of a dedicated space for people who are seeking mental health support, we do have a designated room at the hospital for people who are in need of mental health support. I apologise if this room resembled a storeroom, this is not an ideal situation and I am sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused your child and grandchild. I have been assured that this room has now been cleared.

We want to deliver and advance high-quality care for people living in country WA and genuinely value your feedback.

I hope that we hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely

Bec Smith

Regional Director

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